NATO Logistics Handbook October 1997

Chapter 9: Production Logistics Procedures for Armaments Cooperation 924. Armaments cooperation under the CNAD is based essentially on an information exchange process which seeks agreement between nations and the MNCs on harmonized operational requirements in order to promote cooperative equipment programmes. Because the responsibility for equipping their forces is a prerogative of individual member nations, this cooperative process can be supported and encouraged, but not regulated, by NATO. There is therefore no formal or centralized NATO armaments planning system. However, in order to give greater coherence and structure to cooperative efforts, two major Planning/programming systems have been introduced in NATO: CAPS and the Phased Armaments Programming System (PAPS). Armaments Planning: Conventional Armaments Planning System (CAPS) 925. In 1988 the North Atlantic Council (NAC) approved the establishment, under the auspices the CNAD, of a CAPS. It was the result of a recommendation originally made by CNAD to the Council in December 1985, as part of an "Armaments Cooperation Improvement Strategy". The creation of the CAPS reflected a growing realization at the time, of the need to translate Alliance agreement on conventional defence improvements into effective action by NATO's armaments community. But no mechanism existed to achieve greater convergence between Alliance military requirements, agreed "at 151", and co-operative armaments activities pursued "at 16" under the aegis of the CNAD. Further, the latter were too often conducted in a dispersed manner, without the benefit of an overarching planning framework rooted in Alliance defence planning, and without a view towards the longer term. Admittedly, the CNAD has made earlier attempts at some form of planning, noticeably the NATO Armaments Periodic Review (NAPR), but they were unsuccessful and fell short of genuine Alliance armaments planning. 926. CAPS is characterized by: its aim to bridge the gap - conceptually as well as procedurally - between defence planning, oriented towards the satisfaction of Alliance military requirements, and CNAD armaments activities focused, for the most part, on the pursuit of armaments cooperation opportunities; the participation of France in Alliance armaments planning; and the emphasis on the longer term. 927. The principal tasks of CAPS are: to provide guidance to the CNAD and orientation to the nations on how the military needs of the Alliance can best be met by national armaments programmes, individually and collectively; and to help elaborate armaments cooperation opportunities and priorities for the CNAD. Armaments Programming: Phased Armaments Programming System (PAPS) 928. PAPS is meant to be a tool available as required for conducting programmes on a systematic basis and should not be regarded as a set of formal and mandatory steps in the implementation of CNAD projects. There is a finite and fairly consistent number of milestones in the life of a weapon system programme where the nature of the programme changes. At these milestones, decisions must be made regarding alternative courses of action. PAPS is intended to provide a structured approach to decision-making at these milestones for all management levels involved in cooperative research and development and production programmes within NATO. 929. Milestones and Phases in the Life Cycle of a Weapon System. The PAPS process begins when a nation or NMA identifies a military mission deficiency, and a Mission Need Document (MND) is transmitted to CNAD and the MC. Logistics support must be taken into account early in order to ensure that maximum benefit can be drawn from collaborative projects. The elements of logistics support include manpower, financial and infrastructure requirements, and requirements concerning availability, maintainability and reliability including the estimated life cycle costs, all of which contribute significantly to the concept evaluation and feasibility assessments. The evolution of a typical programme is as follows: Milestone 1 - MND, Phase 1 - Mission Need Evaluation Milestone 2 - Outline NATO Staff Target (ONST), Phase 2 - Pre-Feasibility Milestone 3 - NATO Staff Target (NST), Phase 3 - Feasibility Milestone 4 - NATO Staff Requirement (NSR), Phase 4 - Project Definition Milestone 5 - NATO Design and Development Objective (NADDO), Phase 5 -Design and Development Milestone 6 - NATO Production Objective (NAPO), Phase 6 - Production Milestone 7 - NATO In-Service Goals (NISEG), Phase 7 - In-Service Milestone 8 - National Disengagement Intention (NADI), Phase 8 - Disengagement